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About This Game

Sonic and the All-Stars cast line up on the starting grid once again to battle for supremacy in the ultimate race. Compete across land, water and air in incredible transforming vehicles that change from cars to boats to planes mid-race. It’s Not Just Racing. It’s Racing Transformed!

Key Features:

Play as over 20 legendary All-Stars each with their own transforming vehicle.

Constantly changing tracks and environment. 3 different types of vehicles which are transforming into plane, boat or car. 7 levels of boost! Many Sega characters. That's what makes this game so enjoyable. I would recommend this game for coop play.

I have never been a fan of any type of racing game, but Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has kept me playing somehow! Commonly referred to as "Sonic Kart", Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed carries on the mantle of SEGA's racing franchises, coming after titles such as Outrun and Daytona USA. It features a lot of the characters and locales from alot of SEGA's major and not-so-major franchises (I'm looking at you, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg!).

"What does the Transformed in the title mean?", you might be wondering. To put it simply, each racer's car can transform between a car, boat, and a plane! This makes for some interesting track designs, as portions of each track are land, water, and air-based, and transition between each other very smoothly. It's exciting watching your car morph into a boat or plane without losing any momentum! Sadly, the water segments are the weakest points, as you do not have the traction of the track, and waves don't seem to have any impact on your boat at all. The plane is easily the most fun segment, with the car segments coming second. A major mechanic in the game is "Drifting", in which you brake and turn to the side around curves, which after awhile will earn you a boost when you come out of drifting. Using this to your advantage is key to keeping up with your opponents and winning races!

With over 20 tracks (40 if you count the mirrored tracks), there is never a dull moment. Tracks also morph and terraform between laps, offering a different experience per lap, and chaning up the land/air/water segments as you go. Tracks range from your typical Sonic locales (Casino Palace, Seaside), to a Panzer Dragoon track, Super Monkey Ball, and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. Each track is unique, and they all change as the race progresses.

There are many, many characters available to unlock, all representing the franchise they come from. Of course, you have your obvious characters...Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Tails, and Metal Sonic. But there are also characters such as Wreck-It-Ralph, Beat from Jet Set Radio, MiMi from Super Monkey Ball, Vyse from Skies of Arcadia, Ulala from Space Channel 5, and many more. Exclusive to the Steam version are also the Tactician from Football Manager, the Deadly Assassin from Total War: Shogun, and Heavy/Spy/Pyro from Team Fortress 2. Each one levels up, gaining more "car mods" with which you can customize the performance of your vehicle. Your car has a few stats on which it is graded, which can be adjusted with your unlocked mods: Speed, Handling, Acceleration, Boost, and All-Star. All-Star is a special ability unique to each character that can be activated by collecting the appropriate power-up. For example, Knuckles' All-Star ability allows him to use the Master Emerald to conjure a Chaos Blast-like explosion.

There are a number of power-ups that can be used, each obtained from a Random Item pickup. Once picked up, a very fast roulette will determine what power-up you receive. This is completely random, and is also the only way to get the All-Star power-up. Examples of some power-ups are Snow (allows you to throw up to 3 snowballs at opponents), Boost (gives you a free, trigger-at-will boost), Fireworks (similar to Snow, but fires a Firework that bounces between walls), and Blowfish (drops a blowfish on the track which stops any racers who hits it momentarily). If you hit an opponent with a power-up like Snow or Firework, they will drop a Coin. These are collected and used to play a slots game before each race, at the cost of 5 Coins per pull. You can obtain a random power-up at the very start of the race in this manner.

There are several games modes, including World Tour, Time Trial, Single Race, and Grand Prix. In addition to this, there is a multiplayer that utilizes Steam Matchmaking, so your are never too far from competition!

As I said at the beginning of this review, I am not a fan of racing games. But Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed has made me change my mind about racers. They can be pretty awesome when done right, and this game definitely does it right. It's fun, vibrant, and never short on thrills, challenges, or variety. Do check this game out if you haven't already, you'll be glad you did.

When most people simply glanced at the game, it is easy to look at it as just another mascot kart racing game. With character racers like Crash Team Racing, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and especially Mario Kart, one would think that that there is nothing more to do. However, by taking a closer look, it becomes clear that there is more than meets the eye.

While the various characters will get your attention, the vehicles that they drive are the important detail. Depending on the track, the drivers will use either the classic go-kart, a speedboat, or a fighter jet. Using various vehicles was used in other games like Diddy Kong Racing, but Transformed taking it a step further. In most cases, the tracks consist of multiple terrains. Mario Kart has changing terrains, but your kart does not change with it. If you go into the water, you end up driving in the water, but it is still in kart form. If you go into the air, a hang glider comes out to extend your jump, but it still counts as more ground racing instead of real aerial races. In this game, when going from one terrain to another, the vehicles will change accordingly to match it. That means if your kart goes into the water, the kart will change into a speedboat. If you hit a big ramp, it will now become a fighter jet. With your vehicle changing throughout the race, it makes the vehicles more interesting than usual.

The vehicles are not the only thing that transforms in this game. As you race progresses, the tracks will change along with it, a feature few racers ever did. In one prime example, Dragon Canyon, each lap has its own feel. In lap one, you will start by driving along wooden bridges and rock roads. Partially into lap two, a giant rock will block the road forcing the racers onto an unstable water route with waves, rocks, and waterfalls. On the final lap, a dragon will blow up the wooden bridge making everybody to take to the skies dodging pillars and monsters. With an ever-changing track layout, it makes repeating the same track a lot more exciting than other racing games.

As with most kart racers, items are a part of the action. While these weapons make the racing more interesting, they tend to make things unfair. This is something that this game fixes. One of these is a weapon that locks onto a racer and seeks it until it makes contact. In most games, once somebody launches this weapon, all you can do is take the hit. In here, when the game warns you, it is possible to dodge it with a well-timed boost. Additionally, another item will allow you go grab them weapon and, if desired, send it back to them.

One more detail about them items is how they are against the leader. In these games, there is usually a weapon designed to attack specifically the leader. What makes them bad is that because they are guaranteed to hit the leader regardless of their distance. This makes it that the game will penalized the leader simply for being in the lead. Transformed realized this is unfair and fixes it. With this game, to attack the leader, the weapon used is a swarm of bees. While they will hurt the leader if they hit, that is not a guarantee. They work by acting as a series of pillars. Through skillful driving, it is possible to drive around them unharmed. By making it that lead targeting item works on skill instead of blind targeting, this makes that if the leader can avoid them, then that person deserves to be in the lead, the way that it should be.

Another thing that makes the game stand out are the modes available. Like any racing them, Grand Prix racing is the main draw of the game. However, another mode stands out in this game. In World Tour mode, the game gives various challenges besides simply winning a race. One on track, dozens of cars will crowd the track making it hard to maneuver. On another, a tank will try to blast you. On yet another, the player need to fly through rings that send them both on and off the regular course. With so much variety, this could have been a game onto itself. With all the extra challenges, most other racing games pale in comparison.

Even though the newest Mario Kart game is about a year newer, this is what it should have been. Even for those that play on Nintendo systems, this is the superior kart racer to play. Since this is a multiplatform game, fans of the genre should not miss on one of the best games released in years.